Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Rachel and Grandma and Arabian Horses at the Summer Show Part 8


Part 1 at the Summer Show

The following morning was a zoo. The show began with trail classes and I was the designer for the trail courses. That meant I needed to be there to set the courses, answer any questions the judge might have about them and walk each course with the exhibitors and answer their questions.

I had an assistant to replace any poles or cones that were moved by an exhibitor's horse but I was still tied up all the way through the trail classes.The halter classes were to begin immediately after the trail. That meant that Colleen and Rachel were on their own to get the Arabian mare, Hope, bathed, groomed and ready for her classes and, of course, Rachel needed to be dressed as well.

Rachel was showing the mare in the Purebred Arabian Mares # & over class, Most Classic Head and Showmanship. There was a class between the mares class and most classic but immediately after most classic was the showmanship.

The attire for halter is different than the attire for showmanship. That meant that Rachel needed to be ready with her changes of clothes and she needed to have a gate hold (you can request a 2 minute hold if you have classes back to back).

We talked about it ahead of time and decided since the most classic head class is not a USEF class and doesn't have strict dress requirements, that Rachel would change into her showmanship pants after her halter class, before her most classic head class.That way she only had to change her top and her number and put on her cowboy hat during her gate hold and she would be ready for showmanship.

By the time I got back to the stalls, Rachel, Colleen and Hope were all ready.The only changes required for the mare was an unmarked cooler for the most classic head class. That cooler along with the items Rachel needed were loaded into a wheel barrow and taken up to the in gate when we went up for the halter class.

Rachel wanted some time to school the Arabian horse before the class so we went up a bit early. Hope was really good paying attention to Rachel and it didn't take as much time as Rachel had thought so we spent some time standing around which is the last thing you want to do with an Arabian halter horse.

To be continued.............

Part 9

The first post of the Rachel and Grandma and an Arabian Horse series was posted several months ago and documents Rachel's journey on her way to her dream of competing one day at the Arabian and Half Arabian US National Championship Show.

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2 comments:

  1. Great post! Hope the halter classes went well.

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  2. more gorgeous photos!

    I think your Arabs are stunning horses :)

    Equitation and showmanship were my least favorite.......

    2 minutes is never enough but it has to be doesnt it?

    ReplyDelete